Over the years, institutions have existed that allowed people to buy and sell tradable objects from one another. Since the advent of traditional trading methods, the basic manner in which such trading has been conducted has remained essentially the same. However, recent technological advances have provided for the evolution of trading methods from a manually intensive process to technologically enabled electronic platforms. The rapid increase in the number of people performing trades electronically has continued to account for more and more of the total percentage of transactions in the market. In fact, what was previously seen as a supplement to the traditional pit trading, now, electronic trading is expected to continue to transform the trading process as modern technology advances.
Many exchanges throughout the world now support electronic trading. Electronic trading has made it possible for an increasing number of people to actively participate in a market at any given time. The increase in the number of potential market participants has advantageously led, among other things, to a more competitive market and greater liquidity.
Exchanges that support electronic trading are generally based on a host, one or more computer networks, and clients. In general, the host includes one or more centralized computers to form the electronic heart. Its operations typically include order matching, maintaining order books and positions, price information, and managing and updating a database that records such information. The host is also equipped with an external interface that maintains uninterrupted contact to the clients and possibly other trading-related systems.
Typically, market participants link to the host through one or more networks. A network is a group of two or more computers linked together. There are many types of networks such as local area networks and wide area networks. Networks can also be characterized by topology, protocol, and architecture. However, any type of network configuration can be used as an electronic trading environment. For example, some market participants may link to the host through a direct connection such as a T1 or ISDN. Alternatively, some participants may link to the exchange through direct connections and through other common network components such as high-speed servers, routers, gateways, and so on.
Regardless of the way in which a connection is established, software running on the clients allows people to log onto one or more exchanges and participate in one or more markets. Some clients run software that creates specialized interactive trading screens. In general, the trading screens enable people to enter orders into the market, obtain market quotes, and monitor positions. The range and quality of features available on such screens vary according to the specific software application being run.
The success of a trader who trades in a competitive electronic trading environment depends on many factors. One of the factors is how fast a trader can make a trade. The faster and more flexible that a trader can trade, the less likely it will be that the trader will miss the trader's price and the more likely the trader will make money.
Another important factor is the ability of a trader to view market information, e.g., a market trend, related to one or more tradable objects that the trader is trading, or relative positions between two or more tradable objects. Many traders view market information using charts that display market trend information related to a particular tradable object. To view such charts, however, traders have to open one or more windows in addition to a trading interface. Such a method of displaying information may not be fully beneficial to a trader especially when the trader is trading a plurality of tradable objects at the same time and simultaneously wants to view multiple charts corresponding to the tradable objects. Further, using such a method, a trader will not be able to quickly and efficiently determine relationships between the displayed tradable objects. If multiple charts do not fit on a trader's screen, a trader is forced to switch between the charts and/or the trading interface. Such an embodiment may be to detriment of a trader, because, while the trader opens and closes multiple charts, the trader may miss critical shifts in one or more markets in which the trader participates. Further, using such charts, it is difficult for a trader to correlate the trader's current positions or his/her market activities with market information provided on such charts. This task becomes even more burdensome to a trader who is trading multiple tradable objects and who at the same time is trying to view market information and monitor his/her trading positions.
Additionally, if a trader is not even using charts, but trades multiple tradable objects at the same time, the trader might experience difficulties to simultaneously view information related to all of these tradable objects due to screen space limitations. Thus, once again, a trader might get caught switching between interfaces to view data related to tradable objects that he/she is currently trading, while possibly missing important market swings related to other tradable objects.
Thus, it is still desirable for electronic trading applications to offer tools that can assist a trader in trading in electronic trading environments, help the trader make trades at the most favorable prices in a speedy and accurate manner, while allowing the trader to conveniently view any desirable information.